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Orgo-Life the new way to the future Advertising by AdpathwayUnder a clear blue sky on a Monday morning, Coogee beach in Sydney’s east is quiet.
A few swimmers have ventured into the ocean pools at the northern and southern ends of the beach. Most others sit on the sand, looking towards the water.
On Saturday morning Coogee local, teacher and mother Leah Stewart was pulled from between the flags with life-threatening injuries after being attacked by a great white shark.
Her family confirmed Stewart had undergone multiple surgeries – including an arm amputation.
The beachside eastern suburbs community is reeling from trauma and disbelief.
‘She did everything right’
Locals and visitors say they are rethinking their use of the beach in the aftermath.
Alex “Spango”, a Clovelly and Coogee local who has surfed the area for more than 35 years, was at the beach on Saturday morning.
He recalls the “perfect” conditions at sunrise, pulling out his phone to show us a picturesque photo of the water from his camera roll. Hours later, he was riding a bus to Chinatown when his partner called.
“It’s like a horror movie,” he says, emerging from the surf at Coogee beach on Monday, after only wading up to his knees.
“The community is 100% saddened, stunned, surprised and just … haunted. Whatever the word is, it’s got a sad feeling,” he says. “The poor lady, she did everything right.”
Spango, 59, says he has only spotted three sharks in his 40 years of surfing the local “Bommies” (Bombora reef). He now wears an electromagnetic “shark band” for peace of mind. “People say, do they work? And I say, well, I haven’t seen one [a shark] since.”
Samuel Mackenzie, a marine biology student who lives just up the road from Coogee beach, was driving on Saturday when he received a panicked call from a mate.
“My mate, he’s a bay swimmer too, [he] was there when it [the shark attack] happened … he works at the Coogee Bay [hotel],” Mackenzie says. “He thought that it could have been me … It’s a funny feeling when people call you thinking you’re dead.”
While Mackenzie usually surfs and free-dives out in the open ocean, on Monday he chose to swim in the Ross Jones memorial pool at the south end of the beach. “I feel less comfortable being in the ocean … I don’t want to scare my parents,” he says.
His marine biology background gives him perspective on managing the risk.
“At the end of the day, I’m in their home … it’s going to take some compromises sometimes,” he says. “It’s hard because measures like shark nets can have negative impacts on nature, I feel like the proper measures are to have more education to protect and save our wildlife.”
Regular swimmers ‘terrified’
Towelling off from a dip at the southern rock pool, Ryan O’Sheehan mentions he doesn’t frequently swim at Coogee and felt “terrified” when he heard about the attack, prompting him to stick to the enclosed concrete pool.
At the northern headland, mother and daughter Violet and Ilona, visiting from Arizona, take a cautious dip in Giles baths. They were unaware of the attack until speaking with reporters.
UK tourists Gen and Pauline sit on Coogee’s famous rainbow stairs, eating lunch after finishing the coastal walk from Bondi. They found out about the shark attack via TikTok.
“We probably would have gone for a swim if we hadn’t heard,” Pauline says. “We hope the lady that was swimming is OK.”
Call for more drone surveillance
After the shark attack, eastern suburbs beaches officially reopened on Monday under heightened vigilance.
Drone flights are usually heavily restricted at Coogee due to its proximity to Sydney airport flight paths.
A Randwick city council spokesperson confirmed that council lifesavers had never previously flown drones there because of strict Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulations.
However, a swift regulatory shift after the shark attack lifted the blanket ban, allowing Surf Life Saving NSW to conduct aerial patrols since Sunday.
At midday on Monday, operators from the Australian UAV service reported an “all clear” for the day so far.
Randwick mayor Dylan Parker is now calling for a permanent, year-round exemption.
“We want a general SLSNSW exemption for Coogee all year round so surveillance drones can be in the air looking out for sharks and keeping the community safe,” Parker says.
“There are illegally operating drones flying nearly every day of the year. If drones are going to be in the air regardless, they should at least be looking out for us … Drones are a technology that actually work. Lift the restrictions so we can do everything we can.”
An SLSNSW spokesperson says its number of drone surveillance locations changes during winter, usually restricted to specific locations such as Maroubra and Wanda beaches.
“The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) Shark Management Program drone surveillance locations, in season, include Tamarama to the north and Maroubra to the south.
“Currently, Bondi and Tamarama both also have drones for surveillance [since the weekend] but this may not continue.”
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (Casa) confirmed they will engage with SLSNSW to see if approvals can be safely adapted for long-term operations and called the Saturday incident “a tragedy”.
Support offered to traumatised locals
The incident at a beach so many visit to relax has had a toll on witnesses and the wider community.
Local MP Matt Thistlethwaite announced that a community counselling meeting was to be held on Monday evening at Coogee Surf Life Saving club. The event will offer professional mental health support to residents, witnesses, families, and children affected by the tragedy.
As afternoon approaches at Coogee on Monday, a lone ocean swimmer wearing a bright swim cap cuts through the surf, disappearing past the headland rocks.
A surf life-saving jetski trails closely behind – a reminder of the heightened vigilance that has become, at least for now, Coogee’s new normal.
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